I.NAPSNet

1. ROK on Six Party Talks

Chosun Ilbo (“SEOUL PROPOSES WAY OUT OF SIX-PARTY DEADLOCK”, 2005-12-13) reported that the ROK’s chief negotiator to six party nuclear talks said that Seoul proposed a way to overcome new obstacles to resuming negotiations. Offering little detail, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-Soon said the ROK decided to step in because the growing conflict is threatening an early resumption of the multilateral talks. Song also said it was unlikely that preliminary meetings for the talks will take place any time soon.

(return to top) (“SEOUL TO TACKLE NK’S FORGERY WITHIN 6-WAY FRAMEWORK”, 2005-12-13) reported that Washington and Pyongyang could have a bilateral approach to tackle the issue of the DPRK’s counterfeiting activities within the six party framework, a senior ROK official said. But he underlined that the denuclearization talks, which South Korea hopes to resume in Beijing next month, are not a “tribunal” that is designed to tackle the DPRK’s alleged forgery of US dollars. “The six-party talks is not a tribunal to talk about the counterfeiting issue,” the official told reporters at a briefing session. “I mean the six countries will not conduct a fact-finding mission to check whether it is true or not. But if the U.S. and North Korea agree to discuss the forgery issue within the six-party framework, the two sides could hold bilateral discussions to talk about it.” (return to top)

2. IAEA on Inviation from DPRK

(“IAEA CHIEF EXPECTS INVITATION FROM NK “, 2005-12-12) reported that the head of the IAEA said the DPRK is preparing to invite him to visit the country. “North Korea said that it would invite me back at an appropriate time. They said that last month,” Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told a news conference in Oslo.

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3. Inter-Korean Summit

China Daily (“NUCLEAR IMPASSE TO BE DISCUSSED AT INTER-KOREAN TALKS”, 2005-12-13) reported that the ROK and the DPRK are meeting in their highest-level regular dialogue amid a new sense of urgency on the crisis over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons programs after it threatened to boycott party. The ROK is expected to make a strong effort to bring the DPRK back to the international nuclear dialogue during the inter-Korean talks starting Tuesday evening on the southern resort island of Jeju.

(return to top) Chosun Ilbo (“N.KOREAN INDIFFERENCE SCUPPERS SIX-NATION JEJU MEET”, 2005-12-13) reported that lack of interest from the DPRK makes it unlikely chief negotiators in six party talks will informally convene in Jeju Island, as Seoul has proposed, a government official said (return to top)

4. Inter-Korean Copywrite Violation

Joongang Ilbo (“NOVELIST IN NORTH TURNS TO COURT HERE “, 2005-12-13) reported that a DPRK writer filed a copyright violation suit against a South Korean publishing company in a Seoul court yesterday, seeking 150 million won ($145,000) in compensation. This is the first instance in which a DPRK resident in his home country has turned to ROK courts for redress. A lawyer here representing Hong Sok-jung, a 64-year-old writer living in Pyongyang, filed the case at the Seoul Central District Court. The suit contended that Daehoon.com, a South Korean publishing house, had published Mr. Hong’s novel, “Hwangjini,” in August 2004 without the author’s permission. The novel was published in North Korea in 2002. The documents supporting the suit said that Daehoon had sold about 80,000 copies of the novel in the ROK.

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5. ROK on DPRK-US Relations

Korea Herald (“SEOUL URGES WASHINGTON, PYONGYANG TO TALK”, 2005-12-13) reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said yesterday the aggravating financial clash between the US and the DPRK must be overcome if it becomes a major obstacle to the six-party talks currently in recess. “The counterfeited money issue itself is not a problem that we (South Korea) can directly mediate in, but if the problem becomes a major obstacle for the six-party talks’ progress, the members to the negotiations have no other choice but to intervene,” Song said.

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6. ROK Opposition on DPRK-US Relations

The Korea Times (“LAWMAKERS URGES US ENVOY TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS ON NK”, 2005-12-13) reported that a ROK ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday he would submit a resolution to urge the government to ask the US to recall its ambassador to Seoul if the envoy continues to take a hard-line stance against the DPRK. Rep. Kim Wong-wung of the Uri Party called for Alexander Vershbow to be cautious in choosing words to describe the DPRK. “Ambassador Vershbow¡’s remarks are due to either his lack of specialization on the Korean Peninsula or intention to damage peace on the peninsula,” Rep. Kim said in a radio talk show. “Vershbow should bear in mind that South Korea will not regard as an ally any country standing in the way of the peninsula’s peace”, he added.

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7. ROK Unification Minsiter to Visit US

The Korea Times (“CHUNG TO VISIT US TO DISCUSS NUKE ISSUE”, 2005-12-13) reported that Unification Minister Chung Dong-young will leave for Washington Sunday to brief the US administration officials and legislators on the recent development in inter-Korean relations, an aide to Chung said. During the six-day visit that will come on the heels of the inter-Korean Cabinet talks, Chung plans to underline progress in economic cooperation between the two Koreas, especially focusing on the inter-Korean industrial complex in the DPRK border city of Kaesong, Yang Chang-seok, spokesman of the Unification Ministry, said.

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8. USAID on Food Security in DPRK

The Korea Times (“USAID CHIEF SAYS HE WITNESSED MASS BURIAL IN NK “, 2005-12-12) reported that a chief US administrator on international aid, said he witnessed a mass burial of DPR Koreans dead from hunger. He recounted how in 1998 he saw from the Chinese side of the border between the DPRK and PRC the mass burial of DPR Koreans who died of hunger. “We were in China, and we had telescopes, and they dumped 29 bodies in a big pit, and they covered over the bodies. It was a famine, and a lot of people refused to recognize it at the time,” said Natsios. In a speech Friday at a forum sponsored by the Center for Global Development, whose text was made available over the weekend, Andrew Natsios said there can’t be a mistake when it comes to emergency food relief. “We are not talking here about a development program (where) if you make a mistake you waste a little money, you might have a little failure,” he said. “Famine relief means, if you succeed, you save people’s lives. If you fail, lots of people die.”

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9. PBS Documentary on DPRK

The New York Times (“TALES OF NORTH KOREA’S UNDERGROUND RAILROAD “, 2005-12-13) reported that “Seoul Train,” a documentary tonight on PBS, is the work of amateurs – as its creators, Lisa Sleeth and Jim Butterworth, concede. They made the film having never so much as used a camera before, solely on the strength of their concern for the predicament of DPRK refugees. It’s an earnest and enterprising project, if not a brilliant documentary. Ms. Sleeth and Mr. Butterworth managed to acquire film shot by refugees and activists of the Asian Underground Railroad, some of whom escaped the DPRK. These sequences – images of what Human Rights Watch has called “the world’s largest prison camp” – are what make the film: they show improvised encampments of children scrabbling for food, far from the absurdist pageantry of Kim Jong Il.

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10. Asian Economy

New York Times (“AS AN ASIAN CENTURY IS PLANNED, U.S. POWER STAYS IN THE SHADOWS”, 2005-12-13) reported that the focus was on Myanmar Monday as a regional summit meeting began here, but the broader view was on the evolving shape of Asia as economies grow and alliances shift in the decades to come.

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11. PRC Village Shooting

New York Times (“CHINESE ACTIVISTS CALL FOR SHOOTINGS PROBE”, 2005-12-13) reported that a group of academics and activists called Tuesday for an independent investigation into the shooting of villagers protesting the seizure of land for a power plant.

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12. PRC on the Environment

Xinhua (“CHINA BEGINS TO EVALUATE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF SONGHUA RIVER”, 2005-12-13) reported that the PRC has initiated a program to evaluate the ecological impact of the Songhua River water pollution in northeast PRC and put forward countermeasures, said a senior environmental official said here Tuesday.

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13. PRC on Economy

China Post, Reuters (“CHINA SAYS GROWTH NO DANGER TO NEIGHBORS”, 2005-12-13) reported that the PRC’s rapid economic rise spells an opportunity, not a threat, to the rest of East Asia, PRC Premier Wen Jiabao reassured leaders from neighboring countries on Monday ahead of a regional summit.

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14. PRC on Proposed Asian Bloc

Xinhua (“BEIJING AGAINST EXCLUSIVE BLOC IN EAST ASIA”, 2005-12-13) reported that Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday made it clear that the PRC is opposed to building any self-enclosed or exclusive bloc in the East Asia region. He also reassured leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that Beijing does not seek a leadership role in regional co-operation.

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15. PRC on Nanjing Memorial

Japan Today (“68TH ANNIVERSARY OF NANJING MASSACRE OBSERVED”, 2005-12-13) reported that three thousand PRC military personnel gathered with local officials Tuesday for a ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre committed by invading Japanese troops, state media reported.

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16. PRC on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Asahi Shimbun (“CHINA SOUNDS OUT MAEHARA ON KOIZUMI’S SHRINE VISITS”, 2005-12-13) reported that the PRC’s relations with Japan have sunk to their lowest level because of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine, a senior PRC official said in Beijing.

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17. ASEAN Leaders on Yasukuni Shrine Issue

Asahi Shimbun (“ASEAN CONCERN OVER YASUKUNI, POOR CHINA TIES”, 2005-12-13) reported that some ASEAN leaders on Tuesday expressed concern about strained relations between Japan and the PRC sparked by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

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18. Japan-PRC Relations

Japan Today (“KOIZUMI CRITICIZES CHINA FOR REFUSING TO HOLD SUMMIT TALKS”, 2005-12-13) reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi criticized the PRC Tuesday for refusing to hold bilateral summit talks.

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19. Japan-India Relations

Rediff India (“INDIA, JAPAN TO BOOST TRADE TIES”, 2005-12-13) reported that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held bilateral talks with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday.

(return to top) reported that after years of printing government bonds to pay for projects like these, Japan now has the highest ratio of debt to gross domestic product in the industrialized world: 160 percent, as against 65 percent for the United States in 2004. (return to top)

20. Japan on ASEAN Summit

ITAR-TASS: News Agency (“JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER ANNOUNCE THAT JAPAN ALLOCATES USD 70 MILLION FOR ASEAN “, 2005-12-13) reported that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has announced on Tuesday the allocation of 70 million dollars to help strengthening regional ties between the ASEAN countries.

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21. Japan on Beef Imports

Asahi Shimbun (“BAN ON U.S., CANADA BEEF PARTIALLY LIFTED”, 2005-12-13) reported that the government formally decided on Monday to lift the two-year ban on imports of beef from the United States and Canada, provided specified conditions are met.

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22. Japan on Terrorism

Japan Times (“JAPAN, JAPANESE ABROAD STILL TARGETS FOR TERRORISM: POLICE “, 2005-12-13) reported that Japan and Japanese nationals overseas could still be the targets of terrorism as the al-Qaida terrorist network continues to condemn nations that supported the use of force against Iraq in 2003 and to call for “jihad,” or holy war, the National Police Agency said Tuesday in an annual report on security.

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23. Bird Flu

BBC News (“NINTH BIRD FLU DEATH IN INDONESIA”, 2005-12-13) reported that an Indonesian man who died last month has been confirmed as the country’s ninth bird flu victim.

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24. WTO Protest

Washington Post (“THOUSANDS MARCH AGAINST WTO IN HONG KONG”, 2005-12-13) reported that thousands of demonstrators from more than a dozen countries marched through Hong Kong Tuesday, some scuffling with police and others diving into the city’s harbor in protest, as a World Trade Organization meeting opened with wealthy and developing nations deadlocked in talks on a global trade accord.

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25. US-Taiwan Security Relations

New York Times (“EX-DIPLOMAT ADMITS HIDING RELATIONSHIP”, 2005-12-13) reported that a former top American diplomat pleaded guilty Monday to concealing a relationship with a Taiwanese intelligence officer from his superiors at the State Department.

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